'NATURE'S MAKING': JAMES HOGG AND THE AUTODIDACTIC TRADITION IN SCOTTISH POETRY By Valentina Bold, M. A. (hons), M. A. Volume Two A thesis submitted to the University of Glasgow in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 1997 Department of Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow ° Valentina Bold August 1997 355 Chapter Eight: Parodies and Experiments 'The Border district of Scotland was at this time, of all the districts of the inhabited world, pre- eminently the singing country.... The easily traceable reasons for this character are.... Firstly, distinctly pastoral life... Secondly, the soldier's life, passing gradually, not in cowardice or under foreign conquest, but by his own increasing kindness and sense, into that of the shepherd; thus, without humiliation, leaving the war-wounded past to be recalled for its sorrow and its fame. Thirdly, the extreme sadness of that past.... Fourthly (this a merely physical cause, yet a very notable one), the beauty of the sound of Scottish streams.... There must be much soft rain... the rocks must break irregularly and jaggedly.... the loosely- breaking rock must contain hard pebbles.... giving the stream its gradations of amber to the edge, and the sound as of "ravishing division to the lute". ' (John Ruskin, Fors Clavigera: Vol III, The Works of John Ruskin, ed E. T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, (London and New York, 1907), Vol XXVII, Letter 32 (August 1873) pp. 593-95. ) 356 Like Ruskin's stream, Hogg's poetry mixes the indigenous traditions of the Borders with a range of extraneous elements. His facility in diverse styles is particularly evident in parodies and experiments. In his ability to combine derivative and individualistic elements Hogg far exceeds the expected performances of the autodidact, demonstrating once more his exceptional ability to absorb new information. This chapter considers three of Hogg's liveliest experimental poems: The Poetic Mirror (1816), 'The Russiadde' (1822), and A Queer Book (1832). Hogg relished demonstrating his stylistic virtuosity, transcending his peasant poet stereotype. The Poetic Mirror (1816), he later stated, was planned as a representative selection of the finest contemporary verse from Scotland and England. Subsequently, Hogg asserted, the resistance of his intended contributors (especially Scott) forced him to supply imitations himself. Although The Poetic Mirror is anonymous, Hogg leaves clues to his identity. Recalling Cela in The Pilgrims of the Sun (1815), for instance, the maligned heroine of the first item, 'The Guerilla', is Kela. 1 The Second Canto of 'Wat o' the Cleuch' (pp. 53-129) opens with a nod to 'Kilmeny'. Where 'Bonny Kilmeny's gaed up the glen / But it wasna tae met Duneira's men' (11.1-2) in 'Wat o' the Cleuch', 'Now Wat o' the Cleuch's gone down the dale, / But he is not in hauberk or glistening mail' (Canto II, 11.1-2). 357 The Poetic Mirror is arranged with great care, once more showing Hogg's attention to structural detail. There is a tonal shift throughout the volume, as the pieces become increasingly venomous. The first items are akin to artistic homage: affectionate tributes to Byron and Scott. These are followed by less respectful parodies of Wordsworth, Hogg himself (the middle and pivotal piece), Southey and Coleridge. Finally, there is forthright satire in the poems attributed to John Wilson. Hogg takes revenge for the 'Noctes Ambrosianae' by showing up Wilson at his hackneyed worst. 'Hymn to the Moon' (pp. 267-75), for instance, hails the 'sweet spirit', unlike Hogg's own celestial rambles, in a cloying way which is sadly close to The Isle of Palms and other Poems (1812). Demonstrating his autodidactic ability to imitate diverse styles, Hogg convincingly represents the most prominent contemporary poets. Wordsworth appears at his most lugubrious in 'The Flying Tailor' (pp. 155-70); its narrator dismisses 'the impotent scorn of base Reviews' (especially the 'accursed... Edinburgh Review'). The piece opens in Grasmere churchyard and describes the career of the deceased 'Flying Tailor' with his 'unusual strength' (even though 'His mother was a cripple' and his father 'declined into the vale of years'--a repeated point). The cross-legged tailor at work, his 'natural circulation' often 'impeded', parallels the tailor-hero Russ (discussed below). Hogg takes off Southey, with an autodidact's 358 offended pride, in 'Peter of Barnet' (pp. 215-41); its hero is admired for 'Nature's strong workings' in his form, he is the 'stereotype' of a 'page from nature's manual'. Several of the heroes are given Scottish peasant traits. In 'The Guerilla' (pp. 1-26), attributed to Byron, Hogg's Aragonese Alayni is a peasant 'goodly hind' who shares his 'parents' healthful toil'. This poem, one of the finest pieces in the collection, demonstrates Hogg's admiration for the most extreme aspects of Byron's work, already expressed in The Pilgrims of the Sun. The passionate style of 'The Guerilla' is reminiscent of The Giaour (1813) and The Corsair (1814). There are elements, too, of the savagery Hogg had attributed to some Scandinavians in The Pilgrims, particularly in the horrific revenge exacted by Alayni on the Frenchman, Marot, who raped Alayni's lover Kela. After slaying Marot, Alayni is filled with an overwrought sense of honour. He tries to make Kela 'pure' by killing her, then brutally massacres his enemies. Hogg is experimenting with the type of the zealot which he would perfect in the venomous anti-hero Robert Wringhim. Alayni, though, is motivated by blighted love rather than religious fervour. Hogg's pastiche brilliantly takes off Byronic excitement and eroticism in the face of danger, as well as his characteristic stanzaic forms. In the following passage, for instance, the lovers meet under terrible circumstances: 359 She look'd into his face, and there beheld The still unmoving darkness of his eye; She thought of that could never be cancell'd, And lay in calm and sweet benignity; Down by her side her arms outstretched lie, Her beauteous breast was fairer than the snow, Its fascinating mould was heaving so, -- Never was movement seen so sweetly come and go! (verse 17) Hogg portrays the exotic behaviour of foreigners through love and war, with Byronic excess. Alayni, 'maniac-like', enters the battle wearing Marot's helmet, crowned with 'Kela's raven hair'. From now on, 'Blood was his joy' and others fear him like 'A demon spirit'. As the forces feast in an orange grove Alayni maintains his sullen, Byronic front, suffering the 'agony... of spirit comfortless'. Each Guerilla (anticipating Queen Hynde) takes a 'captive maid' or 'high-born dame' to his 'cabin'. Meanwhile Alayni wanders, with 'a form no other eye can see' before him. This is followed by Hogg's characteristic musings on the horrific nature of death in war so 'that sycophants may rule'. That night the 'darkling ruffian' Alayni rampages through his troops, killing the women 'in lawless couch'. Alayni, at times, resembles an Ossianic unkempt 'savage hero'; he becomes a legendary terror figure who roams the mountains of Segovia until he dies in battle, clasping Kela's hair. The whole is compelling and morally repugnant, at once capturing the 360 energy of Byron and Hogg's agenda as an autodidact. Suggesting a structural awareness not usually associated with autodidacts, Hogg groups his parodies carefully. The spirit of 'The Guerilla' contrasts with the understated elegance of the following item, supposedly by Scott. There are two 'Scott' poems. One is polished, the other wild in the manner of The Lav of the Last Minstrel (1805). The first item, 'Epistle to Mr R. S****. ' (pp. 27-51), is the only piece in the Poetic Mirror probably not by Hogg. This gentle, autumn excursion through Teviotdale is attributed to Hogg's friend Thomas Pringle. 2 It presents Scott as a friendly antiquarian escorting the reader through rural scenes, enjoying traditional, convivial pursuits. Supernatural associations include the 'Mountain Spirit' of the hill, no doubt referring to Hogg himself, seated on a double-edged 'elf-enchanted Hanging Stone'. Borders religiosity is stressed. Countering Scott's measured statements on the Covenanters, made the same year in lid Mortality (1816), partisan words are placed in his mouth against 'bloody Graham' and the 'fawning horde' who 'hunt the peasant'. Even 'torture and the stake' could not 'that intrepid spirit break' in man or woman (offering a link to the previous poem). Extending local identities, the second imitation of Scott is a Borders adventure, with a character resembling Marmion at its centre: 'Wat o' the Cleuch' (pp. 53-129). 361 This is deliciously overdone, referring back stylistically to the first poem of the collection. Wat is described in hilariously abundant, traditional-style formulae. Hogg skilfully replicates the exuberant style of The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802-03) ballads and imitations: Wat o' the Cleuch came down through the dale, In helmet and hauberk of glistening mail; Full proudly he came on his berry-black steed, Caparison'd, belted for warrior deed. 0 bold was the bearing, and brisk the career, And broad was the cuirass and long was the spear, And tall was the plume that waved over the brow Of that dark reckless borderer, Wat o' the Cleuch'. (Canto First, verse 1) Wat is sacrilegious. He plunders Jedburgh (archaically 'Jedwort') Abbey, hugely amused by the 'grovelling monks', forcing the abbot to provide forage for his troops. Hogg is adept at capturing Scott's poetic style at its most meticulously detailed, and with a hint of the manner of the Waverley novels. He includes, for example, a long list of dishes provided for Wat's men, from 'haggles' to meats, fish and various types of fowl.